As Expected of You

Two months later, the Ninja Academy.

In the classroom, Nara Shikamaru rested his chin on his hand with a listless expression. As he scanned the students gradually filling the room, he asked Akimichi Choji, who was sitting beside him and focused on eating potato chips, in a nonchalant tone: "Hey, Choji, do you think Sasuke will still come to school after what happened?"

"Huh? What happened?" Choji paused, his expression thoughtful, though the motion of his mouth consuming chips miraculously never faltered.

"Oh right, it seems like Sasuke was absent for the final exams last semester. Do you know what happened, Shikamaru?"

"Forget it, it's nothing."

Shikamaru was speechless and rolled his eyes, deciding not to continue. He hadn't expected his friend to be this thick-headed. Although the village treated that incident as a deep taboo and many adults avoided discussing it in front of children, two months had already passed, yet this guy Choji hadn't sensed that anything was amiss at all...

If even Choji hadn't noticed anything, then the other guy probably hadn't either...

Shikamaru calmly used his dead-fish eyes to glance at the blond kid in the distance.

He saw that the boy was also resting his chin on his hand, looking impatient and annoyed, occasionally glancing toward the door as if expecting someone to appear.

Time ticked by second by second, and the classroom grew more crowded until it was nearly full, with only one seat left empty.

The blond boy's expression shifted from impatience to a hint of anxiety.

"Creak!"

The front door of the classroom was pushed open. Everyone looked toward the entrance to see Sasuke, dressed in a blue short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and white shorts, walking in with a calm expression.

Upon seeing Sasuke, the chattering young ninjas suddenly fell silent.

Although they were still young and the adults hadn't discussed the Uchiha incident in front of them, the students were not fools.

Uchiha Sasuke, a classmate, had been absent from the final exams.

The members of the Uchiha Police Force, once seen everywhere on the streets, had vanished.

The taboos in the adults' speech and the disappearance of Uchiha clan students from other grades and classes.

Coupled with the fact that people in this world generally matured early, most students—with the exception of a few thick-headed ones—had vaguely guessed what had happened to Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored the curious, worried, sympathetic, and pitying gazes sweeping over him; he was no stranger to such looks.

For the past two months, whenever he appeared in Konoha, people of all kinds had cast these looks his way, some well-intentioned, others malicious.

Whether kind or malicious, they usually waited until he had walked far away before whispering among themselves.

Some were worried about causing him secondary trauma, some were simply superstitious, and others just felt that Sasuke was bad luck.

Sasuke had no intention of paying them any mind, nor did he care what those people thought.

"SASUKE!!!"

A loud shout echoed through the entire classroom. From the moment he stepped through the door, Sasuke had felt a fiery, annoyed gaze locked onto him. Unlike the others, this gaze held passion and a sense of rivalry.

Without turning his head, Sasuke knew who it was. Before entering the classroom, he had anticipated many scenarios, and this was one of them.

Turning his head, a guy with short blond hair, azure eyes, and six whisker-like marks on his face came into view.

Sure enough, it's you.

Uzumaki Naruto!

"Heh..."

Sasuke chuckled softly. Ignoring Naruto, he scanned the classroom, then carried his schoolbag and walked slowly toward the empty seat.

"You guy, you're actually ignoring me? What's that look supposed to mean?"

Seeing Sasuke ignore him, Naruto became even more annoyed and shouted: "You ran away during the last semester—were you afraid of getting beaten by me? If that's the case..."

Bang!

Before he could finish, Naruto was struck on the head by Haruno Sakura, who was sitting nearby, as she barked angrily:

"Naruto, you idiot, shut up!"

Naruto wanted to ask something, but in the end, he shut his mouth, feeling aggrieved under Sakura's burning, predatory glare.

Seeing Naruto quiet down, Sakura finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Sasuke-kun..."

Sakura watched Sasuke from afar with worry. She felt that Sasuke had changed; the former Sasuke had been proud, cool, and handsome.

The current Sasuke was nothing but calm, and a girl's intuition told her that beneath that calm, there seemed to be a hidden loneliness that was completely out of place with everyone else.

Vaguely sensing this, Sakura bit her lip, feeling a pang of heartache.

Sitting at his desk, Sasuke placed his books down and closed his eyes to rest, as if everything in the outside world had nothing to do with him.

Sensitive to gazes as he was, he had perceived the emotions in Sakura's eyes, and even those in Naruto's.

There was no need to mention Sakura; she was infatuated with the original's appearance and harbored romantic feelings for him. After what happened, it seemed she had also developed a girl's sympathy and the maternal protective instinct unique to females.

As for Naruto?

His behavior looked impulsive and brainless, and his personality was carefree, but his inner feelings were extremely sensitive. Perhaps his simple mind couldn't guess exactly what had happened to the original, but he seemed to have sensed something instinctively.

The provocation just now and his heartless appearance were merely Naruto's unique way of offering comfort, or rather, a way to shift focus—much like the pranks he pulled to get the villagers' attention.

These little brats acting like grown-ups, heh...

"Creeeak."

The classroom door was pushed open again, and Iruka walked in carrying books and lesson plans. He scanned the state of the classroom, his gaze lingering on Sasuke for a noticeably longer time, though he didn't say anything, merely withdrawing his eyes without a change in expression.

He was, of course, aware of the news that the Uchiha clan had been wiped out overnight. Although he worried for this child and wanted to do something, he knew now was not the time; otherwise, it would only be counterproductive.

"Ahem..."

Stepping up to the podium, Iruka gave a light cough and then announced in a clear voice, "Welcome, students. You will be spending a new semester here. We will now begin roll call..."

Academy life, huh?

It actually seems pretty decent?

Watching Iruka on the podium, speaking eloquently and with great enthusiasm, Sasuke thought to himself.

Although he already possessed three cultivation manuals, some of the content within them was too advanced for his current level of knowledge, making it far too difficult to comprehend.

It was as if those materials were advanced calculus, while the original owner's math skills had only just entered middle school.

There was still much he could learn at the academy.

Once he clarified the basics, the difficult points currently troubling him would naturally be resolved.